Call counter for telephones



Nov. 10, 1942. BRUCK CALL COUNTER FOR TELEPHONES 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Filed Feb. 17, 1940 A TTORNEY Nov. 10, 1942. uc 2,301,363

CALL COUNTER FOR TELEPHONES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 17, 1940 INVENTOR- M/CHA EL Bel/ca A TTORNEY Nov. 10, 1942. BRUCK 230L363 CALL CUUNTEfi FOR TELEPHONES Filed Feb. 17, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet s IN V EN TOR. M l Be qcK BY 1MB 8% A TTOP/VEY Patented Nov. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE-.

Application February 17, 1940, Serial No. 319,378

12* Claims.

The invention relatesto a, device for counting incoming andoutgoing telephone. calls; It isparticularly useful in connection with a coin-controlled locking attachment for a telephone, such as, e. g., disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 314,777 filed January 20, 1940.

An object of my invention is, the provision of a counter for outgoing calls and. another counter for incoming calls and of means for, advancing said counters one step each time the: telephone receiver is returned to itsirest after the consummation of a call, additional means being provided whereby the counter of the incoming calls is also set back one step each time an outgoing call connection is established or tried to beestablished.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for counting the coins dropped in.

a coin-controlled locking: attachment of a telephone if my counting device is used in connection with such an apparatus.

The invention mainly comprises. a. member responsive to the movement of the telephone receiver rest and controlling the means for advancing the counters, in combination with another member which is operative to establishan out,- going call connection, and which controls a means for stepwise reversing the counter of the incoming calls.

Further objects and details of. my inventio will be apparent. from the description hereinafter and the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof by. way of. example. In

this embodiment, my novel device is shown in connection with a. coin-controlled looking attachment according to. my afore-mentioned copending application. However, I. desire it to be understood that my invention is useful also in connection with a telephone without-a coin-controlled locking device, and that, therefore, the scope of my invention. is defined and limitedsole- 1y by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device according to my invention, the wall of the housing being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof, the rear cover of the housing being removed;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section along line 3'-3 of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a partial front elevation, the front wall of the housing being removed, and

Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to that of Fi 4 with the parts in another position.

Referring now to the figures, I is a telephone,

e. g., of, the so-called French type with a dial disc 2, a receive 3 and a receiver rest. 4 which is movable in the. conventional manner, i. e., in response to the removaltherefrom and restoring theretoof the receiver 3. A housing 5 having a front wall 6 and a rear cover I is attached to the telephone. A bolt 8 is shiftably arrangedin the housing 5 soas tozbe projected into engagement with the dial disc 2 in order to lock the latter, by means of a bell crank lever 9 which bears against a lateral projection ll! of a lever ll pivotedat I2. An upwardly protruding arm l3 of lever H is in engagement. with the receiver rest 4 so that lever llj is swung in anti-clockwise direction and bell crank; lever 9 in opposite direction thereby pushing bolt 8; towards the left hand side and into engagement withthedial disc Zwhen the receivers rests onthe rest 4 as shown in Fig. 1. When the receiver is lifted bolt 8 can be retractedby a spring I provided a latch I5 is removed from its operative position. This can be accomplished by a member It when shifted first down andthen up again by a slide I 1 engaging the, member [6 with aprojection I8. Thereby, the lower end l9 of the member I6 will tilt latch l5 and thereafter permit bolt IB-to pass with, its rear end between, latch I5 and the lower end l9. slide I1 is movable in.a channel 20 having walls 2| and 22, and is provided with a lateral projection 23 which servesas a grip for, manipulating the slide after the insertion of a coin through a slot 24in the wall of the housing. The inserted coin will at first tak the position 2511 shown in Fig. 2; When the slide I1 is pulled downward a short distance, the coin wil1 engage the upper end of a lever 25,; projecting into the channel 29, and, thereby, remove the lower end 27' of lever 26 from engagement with a recess 28 in the slide ll. Thereupon, the slide I! can be pulled down. to its lowermost position. A key hole 51 may be provided in the housing through which a key 52 may be inserted so as to engage and retract the lever 26 from its locking position when no coin is available which else is necessary to operate the slide ll. In the course of the downward movement of the slide, the coin will be dropped, with the aid of a tongue 29 engaging in a recess 30 of the slide, into a chute 3! which is formed by the walls 22 and 32. 1c coin will come to. rest, in the position 25?). on two supporting members 33 and 34 which are adapted to project from the outside into the chute 3|. A timing device 35 which in the illustrated embodiment is of the well-known hydraulic type, comprises a valve-provided piston 36 which can be lifted against the restraint of a spring 31 by a lever 38 engaging a roller 39 pivoted to the piston rod with its one end and a lateral projection 40 of the slide [1 with its other end. The arrangement is such that the piston will be raised when the slide is pushed down, and that the piston is free to return independently according to the hydraulic resistance created by the piston valves, when the slide is restored to its topmost position. The timing device comprises a member 4| movable together with the piston 35, and an extension 42 of support 34 engages member 4! which is so shaped that it holds support 34 in Operative position except when in its lowest position in which a spring 43 can remove the support from chute 3!. When this occurs, a coin will be dropped from position 2511 into the till T at the bottom of the housing '5. Support 33 is held in operative position by the said spring 43. It can be rocked out of this position against the restraint of spring 43 by a pawl 44 adapted to engage a shoulder 45 of support 33 when the pawl is first moved downward from its position in Fig. 1 and then, up again. For this purpose, the pawl 44 is pivoted to a link 46 which in turn is pivoted to the afore-mentioned lever ll. Springs 41 and 48 are provided in order to insure the required resiliency of the connection. From Fig. 1 it will be clear, that the pawl 44 will engage under the shoulder 45 when the receiver 3 is removed from rest 4 thereby causing lever H to swing in a clockwise sense. When, however, the receiver is restored to its rest, pawl 44 will swing support 33 about its pivot 49 until the pawl slips off shoulder 45 and takes the position of Fig. 1. The temporary removal of support '33 has for a re sult that a coin which happens to be supported in position 25b will be free to drop on the left hand side of chute 3| into the coin return 50. Thus, the coin will either be dropped into the till T or returned to the user of the apparatus, according to whether the receiver 3 will be restored to its rest after or before the timing device member 4| has reached its lowermost position. In other words, the timing device is the means for controlling th return of an inserted coin within a predetermined time allowed for establishing a connection and the replacing of the receiver when the line is busy. There is furthermore, a plate 53 attached to a lever 54 whose lower end 55 projects into the chute 3|, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Plate 53 is so ar ranged that it obstructs an opening 56 in wall 22 when the lever end 55 is inside chute 3i. If, however, a coin has been dropped into the chute, lever end 55 will be urged outward by the coin when in its position 25b. Thereby, plate 53 will take an inclined position 53a as indicated in dotted lines, so as to divert a subsequent coin inserted through slot 24; Consequently, such subsequent coin willpass through recess 56 and directly drop into the till T.

The apparatus hereinbefore described has been disclosed in my said co-pending application; it does not constitute part of the present invention except for such members whose operations are required in solving the problem of the counting device which now will be described.

In the illustrated embodiment, the counter for incoming calls is so designed as to count from 1 to 10 and the counter for outgoing calls from 1 to 200. Each counter havingreached its highest figure will start again from 1, that s s y, that the one counter will indicate the 201st outgoing call by showing the numeral "1," whereas the other counter will show the figure 1 for the first, eleventh, twenty-first, etc., incoming calls. This is done for the reason, that on the one hand it is desired to use counters of a very simple construction, and that, on the other hand, an error amounting to 200 in the number of outgoing calls is not likely to .occur. Thus, if, e. g., the counte indicates "123 the user of the telephone will know whether or not he will have to add to this figure any and what multiple of 200 in order to obtain the correct number of outgoing calls consummated over a certain length of time, say in the course of a month. The counter for the incoming calls is intended in-the illustrated embodiment to count the calls answered by a person, e. g., an employee, during the temporary absence of the telephone subscriber. In this case, it is not likely that an error amounting to ten calls can occur. Therefore, it has been assumed that a device indicating up to ten calls will serve the purpose. However, counters indicating up to any desired number of calls may be used in my device in the place of the specific counters illustrated in the drawings.

A device of a particularly simple design is shown as the counter for the outgoing calls. This counter 59 comprises a disc 60 secured, e. g.,

5 by riveting to a hub 6! which is rotatably mounted on an inside projection 62 of the wall 6 and held in position by a washer 63 and screw 64, as shown in Fig. 3. Another disc 65 is mounted on hub 6! so as to rotate freely thereon, and a third disc 66 is secured to the hub 6| between disc 65 and the washer 63. Each of the discs 65 and 5B are provided, on their peripheries, with twenty teeth 61 and 58 respectively. On a circle opposite a window 69 in the front wall 6 of the housing 5, disc 50 carries the numerals 1, 2, 9 and 0 equally distributed over an arc of 180 and a second set of the same numerals distributed over the other are of 180 of the said circle. Thus, when the disc 60 is turned one revolution, the numerals l to 0 will appear twice visible through window 69. On a somewhat larger circle but also opposite said window disc 65 carries the numerals 1 to 20. Thus, if for instance, the 12 of disc 65 and a 4 of disc 60 are opposite the window 69 the indication will read "124 as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The bottom of the notches 10 between the teeth 68 of disc 56 lies on a circle of a size approximately equal to the periphery of the disc 65. However, one pair of diametrically opposite notches 12 has the bottom thereof reaching towards the center as far asthe bottom of the notches 13 of disc 65. Now, it will be clear that if a pawl having a width equal -to that of both discs 65 and 66, is used to advance the counter, it will turn only disc 63 and thus disc 60 one step each time it engages one of the notches l0. If, however, such pawl engages one of the two notches 12 it will simultaneously engage one of the notches 13 of disc 65, thus, turning both discs 66 and one step.

A pawl, serving this purpose will be described hereinafter.

The counter for the incoming calls consists of a single disc 14 pivoted at 15 to the wall 6. The front face of the disc is provided with the numerals 1 to 10 denoted with 16 in Fig. 4, and arranged on a circle opposite a second window 11 in wall 6. The rear face of the disc has ten tooth-like projections 18.

In order to operate the counters, a plate l9is attached to the channel wall 2I- onv that side of thezlatter which faces the housing wall 6. The

plate is movable up and downward relatively to the wall 2Iand guidedby pins 86 and 8| engaging in a. slot 82 of the plate. The lower rim 83 of the plate is bent oi? as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and a spring I58 attached to the rim Stand the lower portion of wall 2| tends to pull plate I9 downward. A lever 84 pivoted at 85-to the housing engages withone of its ends the lower face of the rim or flange 83 and, with its other end, the hereinbefore mentioned projection I5 of lever II which projection is stepped so as to bear with its lowest edge on lever 84 and, simultaneously with the stepped portion on the bell-cranklever 9. Now, it will be apparent that plate 79 will be lifted by lever 84 to its topmost position when the receiver 3 has urged rest dand thus lever arm II downward, and that the plate will have dropped to its lowermost position in response to the upward movement of the receiver rest 4, when the receiver has been removed. Flange 83 has a hole 86 through which the foot portion 8! of a member 88 is passed. Hole 86 is sufliciently wide to permit of a swinging motion of portion 87. However, an abutment 89 limits the lowermost position of member 88 relatively to the flange 83. Member 88 is bent off at 98 for a purpose to be hereinafter explained, and has a lateral projection 9!. A pawl 92 is pivoted to member 88 at 93, and a pin and a spring arrangement 54 tends to hold the pawl in engagement with the top extension 95 of member 88 whereas an extension 96 of the pawl projects laterally thereof. The topmost end 91 of the pawl is adapted to engage the notches of the counter disc 66 and, if it engages one of' the notches I2, to engage coincidentally one of the notches 13 which at that time is in registry with the pertaining notch I2. A spring 98 is attached with its one end to member 88, and with its other end to a stationary part such as wall 2|. The arrangement is such that spring, 98. tends to. urge member 68 downward and simultaneously, to swing pawl 92 into engagement with the counter discs, 65 and 66, A rocker'comprising'three arms I66, IGI and I62 is pivoted to wall 2| at I83. Arm I68 constitutes a weight tending to turn the rocker in an anti-clockwise sense in Fig. 4 so as to bear upon the stop I04. Arm IOI is adapted to serve as a support for projection 91 of member 58 and its length is so dimensioned that it can slip underneath said projection when member 88 has been lifted by the flange 83 to its topmost position, as shown in Fig. 4. Arm I92 is in the path of. a pin I 85 which is secured to slide I1 and can travel up and downward in a slot I 66 of wall 2|. Thus, it will be clear that pin I65 when striking upon arm I02 in the course of a downward movement of slide I'I will remove the support I8! from underneath projection 9I' so as to cause member 88 to drop down until abutment 89 bears upon flange 83 if at that time plate I9 is in its lower position shown in Fig. 5.

Means are provided in order to prevent the pawl 62 from engaging the counter discs 65 and 66 when the timing device is in a position other than its lowest. For this purpose, member M is provided with a projection I07 so arranged as to engage the portion of member 88 on top oi. the bend 98 and, thereby, to incline member 88 in such a manner that the pawl 62: cannot enter the counter disc notches, as shown inF'ig, 5, If, however, projection I67. is below the bend 66, it

will have released member 88which, then,pwill.be urged towards the. counter discs: by spring 98.

Additional means may be provided inorder to count such coins which. may be inserted after plate 53 has been swung into that position 53a in which it diverts the coins to drop through the opening 56 of wall 221mm the till T. For this purpose, a lever I68is pivoted at I09 to the wall 2|. Lever I08 has two arms H8 and IN. Arm H8 is adapted to engage the pawl projection 96 when arm III is depressed by the afore-mentioned pin I05 of slide H. The arms H8 and III are so shaped that the entire swinging motion of lever I88 is completed when the slide I1 "oscillating movement of member I25.

has been moved downward as far as the detent 2'! permits, when engaging the pertaining recess 28 of the slide II. If detent 21 is withdrawn at the time when slide I'I is pulled down so as to reach its lowermost position, pin I05 will slide along arm III without causing further movement of the lever I 58. When now, lever I08 is turned in a clockwise direction as hereinbefore explained, arm IIB will tend to lift projection 96 and, therewith, pawl 62 so as to cause the counter disc 66 to advance one step or tooth. However, arm IIO is-so shaped that the highest position to which it can lift member 88 with pawl 92 is slightly lower than that to which member 88 can be raised by flange 83 of plate l9, as will be apparent from Fig, Thereby, it is accomplished that, on the one hand, lever I88 is inoperative with respect to member 858' aslong as the latter is supported by the rocker arm I01, and that on the other hand, the rocker arm I5l cannot slip underneath projection 9| when member 88 is lifted by arm i I!) from its lowermost position shown in Fig. 5. It will be noticed that owing to the difference in the pawl strokes caused by plate I9 and by lever I08, the pertaining numerals of the counter disc 68 will not appear in window 69 in exactly like positions. However, it will be explained hereinafter why this will be without influence with respect to the actual counting. 4

In order to prevent the discs and 66 from undesired turning two independent spring-provided detents H2 and H8 may be mounted on a pin H4 so as to engage the discs respectively.

Means are provided to advance the counter 'of the incoming calls one step each'time therec'eiver 3 is restored to its rest 4 after having been lifted from it, andother means are provided whereby the same counter is set back one step each time the dial disc has been disengaged preparatory to the dialing of a number for an outgoing call. In the illustrated embodiment, the means for advancing the counter 74 comprise an elongated member I26 pivoted to the chute wall 2| at I2I. The upper end of member I26 carries a pivot pin I2 2 on which a pawl I23 is mounted. The pawl has a tooth-like projection I24 for engagement with the teeth I8 of the disc I4 and an arm I25 for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. A spring I26 tends to turn the pawl relatively to member I28 in a clockwise sense, and another spring I21 urges member I20 to bear With a cam-shaped portion I28 against a pinI29 which is secured to plate I9. The flange 83 of the latter is recessed at I38 to permit of an Now, it will be apparent from Fig. 5, that with plate 19 in its lowest position tooth I24 of the pawl may engage the rear face (in a clockwise sense of counter disc 14) of a tooth or dog 18' whilearm I25 is raised. If, then, plate 19 is moved upward by lever 84 in response to the receiver being restored to its rest,pin I29 will travel along the cam surface I28 thereby urging member I20 with pawl I23 towards the left hand side and thus advancing the counter disc one step into the position of Fig. 4. A detent, e. g., in the shape of a spring I3I may be provided in order to prevent disc 14 from undesired movement. When the plate 19 moves downward, spring I21 will pull member I20 towards the right hand side whereby the subsequent tooth of counter disc 14 will tilt the pawl until tooth I24 is able to slip behind said subsequent tooth in the position of Fig. 5.

The means for setting the counter disc 14 backward, comprises an elongated member I32 which is movably attached to wall 2|. For this purpose, pins I33 and I34 are secured to the wall 2I and engage member I32 in two slots I35 and I36 respectively. The lower end of member I32 has a lateral extension I31 which projects into the path of the aforementioned pin I05 of slide I1. The upper end of member I32 carries a pivot pin I38 on which a pawl I39 is mounted. A spring I40 tends to urge the pawl against a stop MI and into the path of the dog 18 of disc 14. Member I32 has another projection I42 so located as to bear upon arm I25 of pawl I23 and to press this arm downward when member I32 is pulled down by a movement of pin I05, 1. e., of slide I1 against the restraint of a spring I 42 attached with one of its ends to said member and with its other end to wall 2|.

The entire apparatus operates in the following manner: It be assumed that the apparatus is in the position of Figs. 1 and 4 in which the receiver 3 is on its rest 4, and that the counters register 124 outgoing and 5 incoming calls. Slide I1 and plate I9 are in their highest position and the dial disc is locked by bolt 8. In order to answer an incoming call, the receiver 3 will be removed from its rest 4. This has for a result: first, the lever II will follow the up-, ward movement of the rest 4 by turning in a clockwise direction; second, the bolt 8 will be slightly retracted by spring I4 so as to bear against latch I5; third, lever 84 will follow the movement of projection I by rocking in a clockwise sense in Fig. 1; fourth, plate 19 will be pulled down by spring I50 so that rim 83 will be lowered with respect to the abutment 89 of member 88; fifth, pin I29 will slide along cam surface I28, thus, causing spring I21 to swing member I20 towards the right hand side in Fig. 4 until the tooth I24 of pawl I23 engages the subsequent dog 18 of disc 14. In the case of an incoming call, no further operations are required to answer such call, and the receiver will be restored to its rest at the end of the conversation. If this is done, the same operations as hereinbefore described will take place but in the reverse direction and with the sole new result that pawl I23, owing to the swinging of member I20 from right to left, will advance the counter disc 14 one step so as to show a 6 in the window 11.

In the case that the receiver had been lifted from its rest preparatory to establishing an outgoing connection, the user of the apparatus now will insert a coin or use a key 52 whereby detent 21 will be disengaged from slide I1. Thereafter, the slide I1 will be pulled downward by the user manipulating grip 23. In the course ofthis movement, first, pin I will turn lever I 08, without, however, bringing arm IIO into engagement with projection 96 because member 88 still rests upon support I 0|; second, projection 40 of slide. 7

I1 (Fig. 2)-.will operate lever 38 so as to raise member M of the timing device whereby projection I01 will tilt member 88 from the position of Fig. 4 into that of Fig. 5, thus, removing pawl 92 from engagement with the counter disc 66; third, pin I05 will engage projection I31 and pull member I32 downward whereby projection I42 will turn arm I25 downward so as to disengage pawl I23 from the teeth 18 of counter disc 14, and, then, pawl I39 entering between two teeth of disc 14 will set the counter one step backward so as -to show a 4 in place of the original 5 in window 11; fourth, pin I05 engaging also rocker arm I02, will remove support II from underneath projection 9I, thus causing the latter to drop slightly until projection 96 rests on lever arm H0; fifth, member IE will be operated by slide I1 to remove latch l5 from locking position, whereby bolt 8 can be further retracted so as to bear against the lower end I9 of member I 6.

Thereafter, slide I1 will be returned to its topmost position, e. g., by a spring (not shown). This causes: first, starting of the timing device, so as to allow a retarded return of the member 4| to its lowermost position with the result that member 89 is swung to the left for engagement of pawl 92 with counter disc 66 when the projection I91 has passed the bend second, member I32 with pawl I39 is raised by spring I42 to its initial position, thereby permitting pawl I23 to engage a tooth of disc 14; third, pin I05 will release lever I08 whereby the latter will swing in an anti-clockwise sense so as to drop member 88 with the aid of spring 98 until abutment 89 comes to rest on flange 83; fourth, slide I1 will lift member I6 whereupon bolt 8 may be fully withdrawn by spring I4 from engagement with dial disc 2 so that the desired number may be dialed.

If now the receiver is restored to the receiver rest after the outgoing call has been consummated, bolt 8 will be returned to locking position owing to the interaction of levers II and 9, and plate 19 will be raised as hereinbefore described. In consequence, counter disc 14 of the incoming calls will be advanced one step so as to show correctly. a 5 the same as prior to the preparation of the outgoing call. Simultaneously, however, flange 83 will raise member 88 and pawl 92 in engagement with counter disc 65 since projection, I01 is below bend 90, until the rocker arm IOI is free to swing into its supporting position of Fig. 4. This movement of member 88 will have advanced disc 66 one step so that now the counter of the outgoing calls will show in place of the 124 before the call.

If at the time when the receiver is returned to its rest, the timing device has not yet completed its downward movement, member 88 is still in an inclined position owing to the projection I01 engaging member 88 above the bend 90. In consequence, the upward movement of member 88 will not cause a registration of the call, and pawl 92 will engage the disc 66 only after the timing device has run off. This is consistent with the fact that the coin will be returned if the receiver is put back on its rest prior to the end of the time allowed for obtaining the desired connection.

Finally, if after the removal of the receiver,'

and 34, such subsequent coin will be directly diverted into the till as hereinbefore described. In

order to register such subsequent coin, the slide may be pressed down a short distance until stopped by the detent 21. This movement of the slide is sufiicient to swing lever I08 in a clockwise sense with the aid of pin I05. Since at that time member 88 rests on the flange 83 in its lowest position rather than on support Hll, arm H will raise the member 88 80 25120 register a call, and, then, drop it again when slide IT has returned to its topmost position. It will be noticed that the projection I01 may be in engagement with member 88 at the time when lever I08 is-operated in the described manner. This, however, will not interfere with a registration, be

cause arm I I8 acting on projection 96 will tilt pawl 92 relatively to member 88 and against the restraint of spring Mso as to engage the disc or discs of the counter. When, thereafter, at the end of the conversation, the receiver is restored to its rest, a second registration takes place as hereinbefore described. Hence, in that case, i. e., if more than one coin is used in making an outgoing call, the apparatus will count the inserted coins rather than the number of outgoing calls. It will be noticed that in the manner described the subsequently inserted coin will be registered prior to the first inserted one. Therefore, it does not matter if in the first registration the indicated number does not appear quite in the exact place, because the second registration at the end of the call will shift the disc 66 into the correct position.

It will be understood that various changes in the form of my novel apparatus, particularly in is the arrangement of the several parts thereof, may be made without departing from my invention. I desire it to be understood that my invention is limited not by the particular disclosure of the specific embodiment illustrated and described hereinbefore, but by the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In an attachment for a telephone apparatus including a receiver and a movable receiver rest the combination of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of the receiver rest and operative to advance said counters one step when said receiver is put on said rest, means for inactivating said member with respect to said first counter, and means operative to set back said second counter one step and for rendering said inactivating means inoperative when a connection for an outgoing call is established.

2. In an attachment for a telephone apparatus including a receiver and a movable receiver rest, the combination of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a coincontrolled member operative in the preparation of an outgoing call, a reciprocatable responsive to the movement of the receiver rest and operative to advance said counters one step when said receiver is put on said rest, means for inactivating said reciprocatable member with respect to said first counter, and means in connection with said coin-controlled member for setting said second counter one step back and for rendering said inactivating means inoperative when an outgoing call is made.

3. In an attachment for a telephone apparatus including a receiver, a movable receiver rest and a dial disc the combination of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a locking device for said dial disc, a

coin-controlled member for ulocking said locking device, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest and operative to advance said counters one step when said receiver is put on its rest, means for inactivating said reciprocatable member with respect to said first counter, and means in connection with said coin-controlled member for setting said second counter one step back and for rendering said inactivating means inoperative when said locking device is unlocked.

predetermined position, and a means whereby 'said movable means are removed from holding position and said second counter is set back one step when an outgoing call is prepared.

5. In an attachment for a telephone apparatus including a receiver and a movable receiver rest, the combination .of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest, a pawl and ratchet drive for each of said counters, a means in connection with said reciprocatable member for reciprocating the pawl of said second counter, a lost motion connection between said reciprocatable member and the pawl of said first counter, a movable means for holding said last mentioned pawl in a predetermined position, means for removing said movable means from holding position, and means for withdrawing said pawl of said second counter from engagement with its co-ordinate ratchet and for setting back said second counter one step at a time, said two lastmentioned means being operative when an outgoing call is prepared.

6. In an attachment for a telephone apparatus including a receiver and a movable receiver rest, the combination of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest and operative to advance said counters one step when said receiver is put on its rest, a timing device, means under the control of said timing device for preventing action of said member on said first counter for a predetermined time interval, means for starting said timing device in the preparation of an outgoing call, and means under the control of said last mentioned means for setting said second counter one step back when said timing device is started.

7. In an attachment for a coin-controlled telephone apparatus including a receiver, a movable receiver rest, a dial lock and a coin-controlled member for releasing said lock, the combination of a counter for outgoing calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest, a pawl and ratchet drive for said counter, means under the control of said coin-controlled member for establishing an operative connection between said reciprocatable member and said pawl whereby said counter will be advanced one step when the receiver is put on saidrest at the end of an outgoing call, and additional means ,for operating said pawl independently of said reciprocatable member to count coins in addition to that used in operating said coin-controlled member.

8. In an attachment for a coin-controlled telephone apparatus including a receiver, a receiver rest, a dial lock and a coin-controlled member for releasing said lock, the combination of a counter for outgoing calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement-of said receiver rest, a pawl and ratchet drive for said counter, means under the control of said coincontrolled member for establishing an operative connection between said reciprocatable member and said pawl whereby said counter may be advanced one step when the receiver is put on said rest at the end of an outgoing call, a timing device adapted to be started by said coin-controlled member, and means under the control of said timing device for holding said pawl inoperative for a predetermined time after the starting of said timing device.

9. In an attachment for a coin-controlled telephone apparatus including a receiver, a movable receiver rest, a dial lock and a coin-controlled member for releasing said lock, the combination of a counter for outgoing calls, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest, a pawl and ratchet drive for said counter, a member carrying said pawl, a

lost motion connection between said last mentioned member and said reciprocatable member,

whereby said pawl may be caused to perform a;

working stroke when the receiver is put on its rest, a movable stop to hold said pawl-carrying member in the end position of its working stroke, additional means for operating said pawl independently of said reciprocatable member, and means in connection with said coin-controlled member for removing said stop from holding positionand'for actuating said additional means. 10. A device as claimed in claim 9, further comprising means for moving said stop into holding position when said pawl has, reached the ultimate end position of its working stroke, the length of the stroke caused by said additional means being slightly shorter than that caused by said, reciprocatable means, whereby said stop is prevented from holding said pawl; when moved by said additional means,

11. A device as claimed in claim 9 further comprising a timing device, means under the control of said timing device for moving said pawl out of engagement with said ratchet for a predetermined time after the actuation of said coin-controlled member, and means operative by said additional means for causing said pawl when disengaged into engagement with said ratchet.

12. In an attachment for a telephone a paratus including a receiver, a movable receiver rest, a dial lock, and a coin-controlled member for releasing said lock, the combination of a first counter for outgoing calls, a second counter for incoming calls, a first and a second pawl and ratchet drive for said counters respectively, a reciprocatable member responsive to the movement of said receiver rest, a lost motion connection between said reciprocatable member and said first pawl and a positive connection between said reciprocatable member and said second pawl to advance said counters each one step when the receiver is put on its rest, a movable stop whereby said first pawl may be held inoperative, movable means for disengaging said second pawl from its co-ordinate ratchet and for setting back said second counter one step at a time, and means in connection with said coincontrolled member for removing said stop from holding position and for actuating said movable means.

MICHAEL BRUCK. 

